Bond Street Handover Ahead Of Schedule

The Costain Skanska joint venture's (CSJV) record of success on Crossrail contract C411 has continued with the early handing over of the Western Ticket Hall Box at Bond Street.

The handover was accomplished six weeks ahead of schedule. The earlier Eastern Ticket Hall, completed in 2012, was four weeks ahead of plan.

Bond Street will be one of six new central London stations serving the new high-frequency rail route – Europe’s largest infrastructure project – which will stretch from Maidenhead in the west to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east. It is due to become operational in 2018.

The Western Ticket Hall descends through five levels, in a vast concrete construction measuring 70m x 30m x 26m in the heart of London’s West End.

Work on the hall began in August 2011 with an intensive 12-month diaphragm walling and piling programme, followed by 17 months of complex dewatering, temporary works, and top-down construction earthworks and reinforced concrete works.

During the construction works, some 220,000 tonnes of London clay was excavated from the 30m deep box, and 70,000m³ of concrete was used for diaphragm walling, piling and slab construction works.

These works were undertaken in the heart of London’s Mayfair Conservation Area and came within one metre of London Underground’s Jubilee Line tunnels. The jv team has also had to cope with the problems of logistics and proximity to occupied buildings common to central London contracts.

Claire Carr, CSJV Project Manager, commented: “What has been delivered at Bond Street Western Ticket Hall in the last 29 months is a real credit to the whole project team, and the safe delivery of this latest anchor milestone demonstrates what can be achieved when a dedicated team is in place.”

Managing Director, Infrastructure, Darren James said he was not surprised at the achievement in handing over the ticket hall ahead of time: “It’s not the first time this team has achieved exceptional performance. It’s Crossrail’s top performer in many categories and this is one of many milestones that it’s committed to early and delivered on time.”